The Healing Process
by shaysdreams
Summary: This is based on Hanna's healing process from the torture she went through in the dollhouse, and how Caleb is trying to help her through it. DISCLAIMER: I am going to be adding my own stuff to this. I'm not strictly going by the show. :)
1. Chapter 1

*** I'm not sure where I'm going with this. After all this is my first 'story' on here. Bare with me folks. :)

' _You're safe.'_ She had heard that phrase over a million times in the past few days. It was as if they were trying to implant that inside her brain. So, the only thing she could tell herself that she was safe now. That she wasn't locked inside that dollhouse, and no longer had to walk around on eggshells. Hanna was back home safe and sound. Or that's what Caleb and her mother had been telling her. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to convince herself that she was safe from Charles. This person had been torturing the four girls for a few years. If anything Charles was furious at them for torching his precious belongings and then escaping. He, she, it was still out there - she was far from safe.

—

Caleb glanced down at Hanna whom had been sleeping in his arms for the past few hours. She was so beautiful - an angel sent from heaven. Sadly, he could tell that she wasn't peacefully sleeping. She had been whimpering in her sleep every now and then. Not to mention had visible worried lines on her forehead. He wanted nothing more than to take away her pain - erase the memories of whatever happened in that asylum. Come face to face with the bastard who hurt his precious angel, but right now he couldn't let his anger get the best of him. He knew that he needed to be there for Hanna. Caleb wanted to be supportive by being patient and gentle. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Hanna or upset her somehow. She needed him, and he wasn't going to ruin that.

"No, no not again…" she mumbled, as she began to become restless in her slumber. Caleb knew that she was having some type of nightmare, and decided that it would be best to wake her.

"Han? Hanna? Hey, wake up." he whispered, as he gently touched the side of her face. Immediately, Hanna's blue eyes shot open, and her facial expression screamed pure fear. Her eyes widened as she looked around her empty bedroom - the bedroom that she had torn apart because it was just too painful. It took her a few minutes to realize where she was, and that she had woken up from a nightmare. Though, it wasn't just a nightmare - it was her reality.

"What time is it? How long have I been asleep?" she asked, as she rubbed her tired eyes in attempt to clear her blurred vision. Hanna finally made eye contact with Caleb, and frowned when she saw his worried features. He was worried sick about her, and she hated it. She hated feeling like this - so vulnerable and weak.

"It's almost 7 o clock. You've been sleeping for a few hours. You hungry? We can order something." he suggested, as he tucked a fallen strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

Hanna nodded, "I'm sorry. I…I didn't mean to sleep that long. I guess redecorating kinda wore me out." she yawned, and pulled her knees up against her chest. It was obvious that both her mother and Caleb thought she was crazy tearing her room apart. But they didn't know what she had endured in that asylum. No one did except her and the other girls.

Once again she awkwardly glanced at Caleb and was becoming a bit frustrated with him, "Caleb, stop…just stop it, okay?! I know what you're thinking and I can assure you that I'm fine. I don't want you worrying about me." she paused, and shrugged her shoulders. "There's nothing to be worried about. Pizza or Chinese?" she asked, as she climbed off the air mattress.

Caleb frowned as he watched his girlfriend try to deal with the aftermath of what had happened. Hanna Marin was the strongest person he knew. There wasn't a single doubt in his mind that she would get through this. But he didn't want her to go through this alone. It wasn't good for her to just ignore the pain that she was in. If she didn't talk about it - it would just build up, and eventually she would explode. He wasn't going to let that happen.

He stood up from the air mattress and took a moment to stretch out his muscles. Taking in a deep breath, he approached the young blonde, and pulled her into his arms, "Hanna, look at me…" when she did he gave her a comforting smile, "You're hands down the strongest person that I know, but you don't have to be strong around me. I heard you crying in your sleep, okay? I can see the visible pain in your eyes, and it breaks my heart. I want to be here for you. If you need to cry, I'm here. If you need to hit something, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I love you beyond reason….let me help you."

By now Hanna's eyes filled with tears as she listened to Caleb's encouraging words. Although, she couldn't help but to feel overwhelmed, and no one seemed to understand that she didn't want to talk about it. Why would she want to relive the memories of the dollhouse? The twisted games that Charles forced them to play. Going days without food or water, or not being able to sleep because of the emotional pain she was in. Why? Why would she want to talk about that?

Hanna shook her head and pulled away from Caleb's embrace, "You don't get it. No one gets it, okay?! I'm home now. I'm not locked up anymore. So, I wish that you and everyone else can just move on!" she exclaimed, her heart was pounding against her chest. She feared that if she allowed her tears to fall - that they wouldn't stop.

"Han-" Caleb went to speak but Hanna held up her hand to prevent him from doing so. "No, just let it go okay?! Everyone needs to just let it go!" she rolled her eyes, "We are ordering pizza." she said, before storming out of the bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

' _Please eat the food or your friends get none. Please eat the food or your friends get none. In 3…2…1….' the robotic voice played over the intercom in Hanna's room. She specifically remembered sitting at a large round table, and there was a ton of food on it. From a large pizza to McDonalds burgers. Charles wanted the girls to go back to their old look. Alison wore the infamous yellow top, Spencer in her preppy outfit, Emily wore her sports outfit, and Aria had her pink streaks. What did Hanna have? Well, she had her noticeable weight gain. Everyone knew about Hanna's past weight struggles (Alison especially). She had worked hard to lose the pounds, and turn into Rosewood's newest 'IT girl'. Unfortunately, now that Charles had this sick obsession with them she had no choice but to force feed herself these meals. He was using her biggest insecurity against her._

"Hanna?" the voice of her mother snapped the blonde out of the painful flashback. She took a deep breath and stared down at the two slices of pizza that sat on the paper plate. She had only picked the cheese off, and a few pieces of pepperoni. It was very unlike Hanna to pass up pepperoni pizza. She glanced around the table, and saw the concerned expressions that were plastered on both her mother and Caleb's faces. She felt very insecure right now because she knew that they had noticed her weight gain. They weren't blind - they had to have noticed.

"I'm sorry." she apologized, as she wiped her fingers on the napkin. "I'm actually not that hungry." she shrugged, as she picked up the glass of ice water, and took a long sip.

Caleb and Ashley exchanged looks before turning their attention back to Hanna. Something was definitely wrong here, and to see Hanna in this condition angered Caleb. Why did this have to happen to Hanna? She was such a good person, and didn't deserve the torture that she had gone through.

The dark haired boy reached across the table and rested his hand on top of Hanna's, "Hey, you okay? You haven't really ate all day."

Slowly, Hanna sat the glass of ice water down on the table, and started to feel a little uncomfortable. "Thanks for noticing but I really don't need to be monitored like a child or a dog." she snapped. She didn't mean to come across as mean, but she felt like she was suffocating in her own home. Caleb shook his head, "That's not what I'm doing. I just love you and I want you to be okay. I want to see your contagious smile because I miss it." Once again she felt the tears form in her eyes, and fought hard to prevent them from falling. She squeezed Caleb's hand to reassure him that she was going to be fine. "I'm going to go call Aria back. Can you put the pizza in the fridge for me? I'll eat it later." Quickly, she stood up from the dining table, and hurried upstairs just to get away from the tension. Hanna had no idea that it would be this complicated to come home, and try to live a normal life again.

Hanna rushed into her small bathroom and closed the door in order to get some privacy. She leaned her back against the door, and folded her arms across her chest. Hot tears slowly rolled down her rosy red cheeks as she tried to deal with the emotional pain that she was in. This was all just too much. And a small part of her started to second guess everything. Was she really out of the dollhouse? Or was she just hallucinating everything? What if she was suffering some type of mental breakdown, and was just picturing how it would be like to be home? She didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

"What is wrong with me?" she mumbled, as she slid down onto the floor. She hadn't spoke to the other girls since they had been released from the hospital. God, she missed them terribly. Spencer, Emily, and Aria were the only ones who could actually understand what she was going through. Though, she was too embarrassed to even be around them. She had hurt them, and she couldn't bare the thought of looking them in the eye.

A wave of nausea overcame her when her eyes landed on the small scale located in the corner of her pink painted bathroom. That scale had been there when she was overweight, and through her journey of shedding the pounds. Now after being forced to eat unhealthy she knew that she had gained some weight. Hanna took a deep breathe as she pulled herself off the ground. She wiped her face and slowly approached the scale. It scared her to death, but she needed to know where she stood. How much weight did she gain? How much weight would she have to lose? Hanna was just about to step on the scale when the bathroom door opened - it was Caleb.

"Hanna? What's going on?" he asked, as he stepped towards her, and took hold of her hand. "Han, look at me….I'm trying to be patience here but it's killing me. I want to help you, but you keep pushing me away." he paused, as he used his thumb to wipe away the tears on her face. "Let me in…."

For the first time Hanna realized that she couldn't deal with this on her own. Caleb was right - she needed him now more than ever. She just felt so broken.

"He forced me to eat a lot."

Caleb's eyes narrowed as Hanna started to open up about what went on in that asylum. "What do you mean he forced you to eat?"

"He has this sick obsession with recreating the past. I mean, did you see Aria's pink streaks in her hair?"

Caleb shook his head, "No, because I was only focused on you. I didn't even look at the other girls because my eyes were on you."

Hanna smiled a little but then it quickly faded, "Well, guess who I was in the past? I was Hefty Hanna." she looked down at the tile floor in the bathroom, "He forced me to eat all these fast food meals, and if I didn't obey his commands….the girls would be starved. I couldn't let my best friends starve, Caleb. I…I had to do what he said…I'm sorry.." she closed her eyes, and broke down into tears.

Immediately, Caleb pulled his distraught girlfriend into his arms, and stroked her beautiful blonde hair. He was furious at himself for not being able to find Hanna sooner. He allowed his girlfriend to be tortured for an entire month by some psychopath. He was just so disgusted. He pulled back from the embrace, and ran his hands over her curves. Caleb looked straight into her eyes before pulling her into a passionate kiss, "I love you. I love everything about your body. I don't care how much you weight, Hanna. You are and will always be so beautiful to me." he stroked the side of her face, and could tell just by looking into her eyes just how much pain she was in.

"Can you just hold me, please?"

"It would be my pleasure…" with that he took her hand and led her back into her bedroom. He smiled as he sat down on the air mattress ,and pulled her down onto his lap. He wrapped her arms around her, and just held her close against his chest.


End file.
